Get together Portland, OR - anyone?

[Guest guest]

Hi group: I live in Portland, OR. If enough would be interested in

this area I'd love to get together and chat sometime. I'd love to

band together and form some kind of rosacea focus group. Anyone

interested near or in Portland? It might be fun to meet some new

friends who understand my " condition " .

Here is a little (ok, a lot)on my background:

I'm 28 years old and married. I used to be an environmental engineer

but had to quit since working outside worsened my rosacea beyond

control. I now do inside low-stress administrative work and am going

to night school to become an RN (high-stress, yikes!). I've had

about 8 photoderm treatments. Most of my rosacea flushing/blushing

is from foods and social/nervous situations like talking to friends,

taking a test, a job interview, etc. I have to take beta blockers

right now to keep the social blushing under control and they cause me

to feel like a zombie. I am planning on having ETS surgery March 1st

to hopefully abolish my severe social/nervous blushing. I also get

incredibly ITCHY bumps with my flares and have to take hydroxyzine

(strong antihistamine) to keep them from forming. My regimine works

pretty well. With a little makeup you cant even see it really, but I

can still feel the uncomfortable burning, and the lifestyle

constraints and brain-dulling side effects from the atenolol are

really getting to me. I hope the ETS alleviates some of this. I am

willing to risk side effects of ETS in return for any improvement in

my rosacea/social blushing.

Patty